Grain door opening mechanism for railway cars



L. C. IRWIN March 17, 1959 GRAIN DOOR OPENING MECHANISM FOR RAILWAY CARS Filed April 19, 1957 s Sheets-She et 1 INVENTOR.

LESLIE c. IRWIN BY ATTORNEY.

March 17, 1959 c. IRWIN 2,8 7,

GRAIN DOOR OPENING MECHANISM FOR RAILWAY CARS Filed April 19,1957 1 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. LESLIE C.'|RW|N ATTORNEY.

March 17, 1959 L. c. IRWIN 2,877,908

GRAIN DOOR OPENING MECHANISM FOR RAILWAY CARS Fil'ed April 19, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet a f g I a fiiiiiiiiii ifl'lfl I IINVENTOR.

FIG. 3 Q BY ATTORNEY.

March 17, 1959 L. C. IRWIN GRAIN DOOR OPENING MECI IANISM FOR RAILWAY CARS Filed April 19, 1957 5 Sheets-sheaf; 4

INVENTOR. LESLIE C. IRWIN ATTORNEY.

March 17, 1959 L. c. IRWIN 2,877,908

GRAIN DOOR OPENING MECHANISM FOR RAILWAY CARS Filed April 19, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG.5

INVENTOR. LESLIE C. IRWIN Q zQQ ATTORNEY.

United States Patent GRAIN DOOR OPENING MECHANISM FOR RAILWAY CARS Leslie C. Irwin, Fort William, Ontario, Canada, assignorto The Winter Dump Company Limited, a company of Canada Application April 19, 1957, Serial No. 653,839

8 Claims. (Cl. 214-54) The present invention relates topower mechanism for forcing temporary board doors of grain-ladened box cars inwardly and upwardly to a position free of the grain in an initial step in unloading the grain from the cars.

It is the practice to prepare railway box cars for carrying grain by nailing closely fitting boards across the doorways to form temporary doors, referred to as grain doors, extending from the floor to a point short of the top of the doorways so that grain may be loadedinto the cars through chutes directed into the doorways above the grain doors. It has been proposed to quickly remove these doors by power mechanism comprising a frame alongside the railway and carrying a power-driven arm-like door-forcing member arranged to swing into the doorway of a car on the railway in an upward arcuate sweep about an axis outside and adjacent to the top of the doorway to force the door inwardly and upwardly through the grain to an approximately horizontal plane above the grain level. One problem encountered by this type of door-forcing mechanism is that the upper boards of the doors become wedged between the railway car roof and the door-forcing arm which is apt to damage the cars and interfere with proper opening of the doors. The principal aim of the present invention is to provide a grain door-forcing mechanism 'of the general character mentioned having means to engage the top or upper boards of the door and force the same inwardly prior to the elevation of the door by the upwardly swinging arm and thereby avoid 'wedging these upper boards between the car roof and the lower boards of the door carried by the door-swinging arm.

A further object of the invention is to provide a doorforcing mechanism of the character mentioned comprising an upper door-engaging member normally carried upright adjacent to a railway and swingable toward the upper portion of the door of an adjacent railway car to force the upper boards of the door inwardly and free of the doorway, an arm-like door engaging member which is. normally supported upright adjacent to the railway and which is power-moved in an arc to engage the door below the mentioned upper portion thereof to force the door inwardly and upwardly, and power mechanism to operate the door-engaging members in a sequence in which the upper door-engaging member is actuated to force the boards at the upper portion of the door inwardly before the second mentioned door-engaging member raises the door proper upwardly. In the preferred form of the invention the door-forcing members are carried on an upright frame in a normally approximately vertical position to occupy a minimum of space adjacent to the railway and the frame is tilted toward the railway car as at least one of the door-engaging members is brought into action.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of a preferred form of the invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawings wherein- Fig. 1 is a fragmentary view, taken along line 1-1 Ice of Fig. 5, of a grain-ladened railway box car positioned.

on a car dumper cradle equipped with a grain door-forcing mechanism embodying the invention;

Figs. 2 and 3 are views similar to Fig. 1 but showing the door-forcing mechanism in initial and final stages of the door-forcing operation;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of Fig. 1; and v 5 is a fragmentary view taken on line 5-5 of The improved door-forcing mechanism may be employed advantageously with a car-dumping apparatus such as the type comprising a car-supporting cradle positioned above a grain pit and which is alternately upended to cause the grain in the car thereon to flow toward one end and then the other of the car to be thereby discharged from the side doorway into the pit, a suitable deflector being inserted inside the car to divert the flowing grain out the doorway. Since such car dumping apparatus, including the grain deflectors, are well known,

only such portions thereof are here disclosed as aid in i the understanding of the invention.

. In the form of the invention shown, the door-forcing mechanism is supported on platform members 10, 11 projecting from the side of the car cradle structure which includes I beam 12. The cradle has a railway track A thereon to receive a railway car C; only one of the rails 13 of the track appears in the drawings. The car C has the usual side doorway D which has a barrier or temporary grain door B made up of boards b nailed to the door jambs to form a substantially grain-tight door extending to a point somewhat short of the top of the doorway, as may be seen in Fig. 1. It will be understood that usually box cars have two doorways, one on opposite sides of the car, and both doorways are boarded as described, and the car dumper cradle will have door-forcing mechanisms on opposite sides so that the doors may be opened simultaneously; however, to simplify the understanding of the invention only one side of the railway car and one door-forcing mechanism are shown.

The door-forcing mechanism includes two sets of parallel footplates 16, 17 suitably secured to platform members 10, 11 and an upright frame comprising legs 18, 19.

The lower ends of legs 18, 19 are journaled between the,

footplates of the respective sets of plates 16, 17 by a shaft 20 extending through aligned openings through the footplates, as shown, so that the legs may be tilted toward and from the car on the cradle. The legs 18, 19 are moved as described by links 21, 22, having their upper ends pivotally attached to the respective legs and their lower ends having laterally projecting pins 26 which extend into longitudinally extending slots 27 formed in the footplates 16, 17 and cooperate with the edges of the slots to form guides for moving the lower ends of the links toward and from the cradle track and thereby tilt the legs from approximately vertical several degrees toward the railway car as may be seen in Fig. 2. The lower able control valves in the hydraulic system so that the pistons move in unison.

A pair of door-forcing arms 32, 33 are pivotally sup-' ported on a spacer axle 34 attached to the upper ends of legs 18, 19 and which maintains the legs rigidly spaced.

2 It will'be noted that axle 34 is located in 'a horizontal Iatented Mar. 17, 1959 plane at a height to be near the top of railway car doors onthe-cradle. formed of channel members having telescoping end sections 35, which may be extended or retracted by hydraulic cylinders and pistons 36"through conventional hydraulic controls, not shown, to vary the"effe'ctive lengths of the arms to fit ditferent fioor levels of the two links is connected to each of the respective'arrns 32, 33 by the respective pins 42 and the other end of each link is pivotally connected to the respective legs 18, 19 bya pin45 carried in brackets integral with the respective 'legs.

Preferably, the hydraulic control of the pistons 38 is such that the arms 32, 33 are moved in unison.

A U shape upper door-forcing member 47 has the open end portion thereof pivoted on axle 34 at a point slightly inwardly of the extremities of the ends of the legportionsto provide relativelyshort arms 4-8 to which the ends of suitable ropes or cables 49, 50 are attached. The ropes 49, 50 are each reeved over pulleys 51, 52, 53 positioned to conveniently guide the ropes down the back sides of legs 18, 19 and between the sets of plates 16, 17 where the lower ends of the ropes are attached to' the pins 26. The length of the ropes 49, 50 is such that when pistons 28p are extended to move pins 26 to the left hand end of slots 27, as'seen in Fig. 1, the weight of member 47 draws the ropesupwardly and the member 47 is suspended approximately'vertical. When pistons 28p are forced inwardlyof the cylinders 23cto tilt the stiff legs 18, 19 toward the car cradle, the ropes 49, 50 are drawn downwardly and thereby rotate member 47 counterclockwise on axle 34. The rotation of member 47 by ropes 49, 50 and the movement of legs 18, 19'to the right as viewed in Figs. 1 and 2, causes the outer closed end thereof to engage the upper boards of the door B and force these boards inwardly from the doorway so that they lie across the member in the manner illustrated in Fig. 2. The pistons 38 are then moved outwardly of their cylinder by hydraulic action through the appropriate controls mentioned hereinbefore, and force arms 32, 33 to swing inwardly and initially engage the lower portion of the door B, as may be seen in Fig. 2, and to then force the door inwardly with a prying action and upwardly through the grain about the horizontal pivot provided by axle 34 to theposition shown in Fig. 3 in which the door proper is held in a horizontal plane adjacent the roof of the car and above the grain level.

By first freeing the upper boards of the door by member 47, the remainder of the door can be raised as described without the upper portion of the door wedging or jamming against the car roof, and the upper boards forcedinwardly by member 47 will overlie the boards below as shown in Fig. 3.

After the car is emptied, arms 32, 33 are lowered and pistons 28p are extended which returns the frame legs 18, 19 to an upright position and permits the member 47 to rotate to its vertical position.

Although I have shown and described but one form of the invention it is apparent that other forms and adaptations-may be made, all falling within the scope of the claims which follow; for example, the use of hydraulic power is not essential as other suitable power devices could be substituted therefor.

I claim:'

, 1. A .grain door-forcing mechanism for railway cars:

In the form shown, arms 32, 33 are comprising a support structure adjacent a railway, a doorforcing member'supported on'said structure and arranged to engage the door of a railway car on the adjacent railway at transverse points spaced from the top thereof and to force the engaged portion inwardly to separate the door into upper and lower portions and to project into the car and thereby support the upper separated portion'in a generally horizontal plane, a second doorengaging member carried by said structure and arranged to engage the lower portion of the car door and to project into the car and move said lower portion inwardly and forcing member supported on said structure and operative to engage the upper portion of the door of a car on the adjacent railway and force said upper portion inwardly and separate the same from the lower portion and to project into the car and support the separated portion in a generally horizontal plane adjacent to the top of'the doorway, power means to move said structure toward the railway to render the first mentioned means operative, and means to engage the lower portion of' the car door and move said lower portion inwardly and upwardly of the car to a generally horizontal position adjacent to the supported upper portion of the door.

3. In a grain door-forcing mechanism for railwaycars comprising a support structure adjacent a railway, an arm-like door-engaging member pivotally supported on the structure and arranged to swing from a generally vertical position outwardly and upwardly to engage the upper portion of a door of a car on the adjacent railway and to force said portion inwardly and thereby separate it from the lower portion of the door and to project into the car and support the separated door portion in a generally horizontal plane adjacent to the top of the doorway, power means to shift the relative position of said structure and car and to swing said membar into engaging position with the car door as set forth, and means to engage the lower portion of the car door and move said lower portion inwardly and upwardly of the car to a generally horizontal position adjacent to the supported upper portion of the door.

4. In a grain door-forcing mechanism for railway cars comprising a support structure adjacent a railway and movable toward and away from the railway, an armlike door-engaging member pivotally supported on the structure and arranged to swing from a generally vertical position outwardly and upwardly to engage the upper portion of a door of a car on the adjacent railway and to force said portion inwardly and thereby separate it from the lower portion of the door and to project into the car and support the separated portion in the car in a. generally horizontal plane adjacent to the top of the door, power means to forcibly move said structure toward the railway and car and to swing said member into engaging position with the car door as set forth, and means to engage the lower portion of the car door and to move said lower portion inwardly and upwardly of the car to a generally horizontal position adjacent to the supported upper portion of the door.

5. A grain door-forcing mechanism for railway cars comprising a frame adjacent a railway, an upper armlike door-engaging member pivotally supported on the upper portion of said frame and arranged to swing from a generally vertical position outwardly and upwardlyto' engage the upper portion of a door of a car on the adjacent railway,a second arm-like door-engaging member carried by said frame and extending below said upper door-engaging member and arranged'toswing from" a generally vertical position outwardly and upwardly relative to said frame to engage the lower portion of the car door, and power means to move said members as set forth whereby said upper member engages the upper portion of the car door to force it inwardly of the car and separate it from the lower portion of the door and to project into the car to hold the separated portion in a generally horizontal plane and said second member forces the lower portion of the door inwardly and upwardly of the car about the pivot of said second member to hold the lower portion of the door in a generally horizontal plane beneath the upper portion of the door supported by the first mentioned member.

6. A grain door-forcing mechanism for railway cars comprising an upright frame adjacent a railway, an upper arm-like door-engaging member pivotally supported on the upper portion of said frame and arranged to swing from a generally vertical position outwardly and upwardly to engage the upper portion of a railway car door on the adjacent railway, a second arm-like door-engaging member carried by said structure and extending below said upper door-engaging member and arranged to swing from a generally vertical position outwardly and upwardly relative to said frame to engage the lower portion of the car door, power means to swing said secand member, power means to cause relative tilting of the frame and car on the railway to position the upper portion of the frame adjacent to the car doorway, and means to move said upper door-engaging member outwardly and upwardly substantially simultaneously with said relative tilting of said frame and the railway car whereby said upper member engages the upper portion of the car door and forces it inwardly and upwardly to separate it from the lower portion of the door and support the separated portion in a generally horizontal plane adjacent to the top of the doorway.

7. A grain door-forcing mechanism for railway cars comprising an upright frame adjacent a railway and movable towards and away from the railway, an axle on the upper portion of said frame, a relatively short upper arm-like door-engaging member pivoted on said axle and arranged to swing from a generally vertical position outwardly and upwardly of said frame to engage the upper portion only of a railway car door on the adjacent railway, a second relatively long arm-like door-engaging member pivoted on said axle and extending substantially beyond said upper door-engaging member and arranged to swing from a generally vertical position outwardly and upwardly relative to said frame to engage the lower portion of the car door, power means to move said upper member for engaging the door and to move said frame toward the railway whereby said upper member engages the car door and forces the upper portion thereof to separate from the lower portion and be carried inwardly of the car doorway and supported by said upper member in a generally horizontal plane, and power means to move said second member to swing outwardly and upwardly to force the lower portion of the door inwardly and upwardly into a generally horizontal plane beneath the separated door portion supported by the first mentioned member.

8. A grain door-forcing mechanism for railway cars comprising an upright frame pivotally anchored at the lower end thereof adjacent to a railway, means to move said frame about its pivot toward and away from the railway, said means including a link connected at one end to said frame, meansto guide the other end of the link for movement laterally of said frame, an hydraulically operated piston connected to said link and operative to move the guided end of said link and thereby tilt said frame, an upper door-engaging member pivotally suported on the upper portion of the frame and arranged to swing from a generally vertical position outwardly to a generally horizontal position relative to the frame to engage the upper portion of the door of a car on the railway, a second arm-like door-engaging member carried by said frame and normally extending below said upper door-engaging member and arranged to swing from a generally vertical position outwardly and upwardly relative to said frame to engage the lower portion of the railway car door and force it inwardly and upwardly of the car doorway, and means mechanically interconnecting said piston and upper door-engaging member to move said upper door-engaging member about its pivot outwardly of the frame as set forth whereby as said piston moves said link to tilt said frame toward the railway said upper member engages and forces the upper portion of the car door inwardly and separates the upper portion of the door from the lower portion and holds the separated portion in a generally horizontal place adjacent to the top of the doorway.

Straight Mar. 26, 1957 Winter June 25, 1957 

